The Official "Natural Beauty" Thread

[DiGiMusicLabelz]

You can never ever go wrong with Castor Oil and Shea butter. Purity is what all natural products are all about. My mentor always told me that if you can't put it into your mouth and eat it, then you shouldn't put it on your body.

 

[MsSouthern]

I made a nice hand/feet exfoliator this weekend

Easy too

3/4 cup of sugar and 1/4 cup of Dawn Olay ( the pinkish one )

mix together in a dish that you can cover ( like a jar or plastic container )

Use a small amount at least once a week

Afterwards use your favorite lotion

Hands and feet feel smoother than a baby's bottom

 

[taeboo]

Try baobab or coconut oil, both are super moisturizing...

 

As black women we age gracefully already but for prevention and to simply maintain nice, healthy skin here are a few simple suggestions:

1. Mash a banana until it has a creamy texture and apply it to your entire face for 30 minutes, bananas have so much more going for them than just a delicious and nutritious treat.

2. Coconut oil is the best option when it comes to natural wrinkle removal, since it rebuilds our skin tissue and will also leave your face skin moisturized and feeling smooth and beautiful.

3. Pineapple juice can easily rival any treatment, in fact it is much better, because they are packed with the enzyme bromelain which naturally eats away our top layer of skin when applied topically and leaves the new fresh skin underneath.

 

[DOPEdweebz]

I highly recommend the Justnatural Organic hair care line.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aag/main?i...=ATVPDKIKX0DER&orderID=&seller=A1MZR6Q04D6ONF

I've tried shea Moisture products but my hair doesn't respond well to products that contain "shea butter". Aubrey Organics was good but they changed their shampoos and conditioners from coconut based to shea butter based and added alcohol.,As I am was cool but all their products contain alcohol or some other unnatural ingredient. Castille soap doesn't work for me even tho I use the Dr. Woods (not Dr Bronners) black soap for when my scalp gets itchy but sparingly (will get into that also). Desert Essence has something called soidum-coco-sulfate which is the same as sodium laurel sulfates. ANY WORD that has sulfates or anything that looks like SLS or menthol sls, or alcohol is bad. Sodium EDTA is bad also, anything ending in "-bens" is bad also. Also Desert Essence like AS-I-am had fragrances which are bad for hair. So I found this line. I think this is it for both men and women right here.

I believe in a moisturizer shampoo, a protein conditioner (basically volumizer conditioner) and leave in conditioner for basics. if you use protein treatments, styling gels or pomades 9(which this company has) I recommend using a clarifying shampoo every two weeks after those treatments at the end of the week and once a month use a apple cider vinegar mix (which they offer to keep the scalp ph balanced)

Everytime you shampoo, lather and just rinse (don't re-lather you're stripping natural oils when you over lather) then condition. use 100% satin or silk du-rags or scarves. Try using a wide tooth comb vs brushing.

For you wave heads a Diane brush is it, don't use that 360 gold crown wave shit unless you want to pull ya hair out for good (have you seen the creator of that bruh? Enough said)

Sleep on satin or silk pillow cases those are good for your scalp.

Last but not least what you drink and eat affects your hair and skin also. I've eliminated 99% of dairy products minus greek yogurt which have probiotics so those are cool. Still eat vegetarian friendly eggs tho. Also tried my best to eliminate meat, but thats a work in progress. I love turkeyburgers tho. nettle tea in the morning, chamomile tea at night. More vegetables than fruits. heavy breakfast in the morning light dinner in the evening.

15 minutes of sunlight a day for you people that sit in front of a computer all day. Running for 20 minutes outside a day is also good and covers that whole sunlight thing. One of the reasons why sunlight is good for us males especially is building testosterone, but the sunlight is a natural way of getting Vitamin D.

One last thing that affects beauty besides overall health is overall sleep. If your "parts" aren't responding as normal you probably didn't get enough rest. 8 hours is the average but varies from person to person some need seven or less some need nine or more. Just how it is.

Finally, remove the stress by any less stressful means anyways. In life you have to lose to gain.

My shampoo: African American Shampoo for Natural Hair
http://www.amazon.com/African-Ameri...B3MY/ref=aag_m_pw_dp?ie=UTF8&m=A1MZR6Q04D6ONF

My conditioner: Thicker Hair Conditioner
http://www.amazon.com/JustNatural-O...C3BY/ref=aag_m_pw_dp?ie=UTF8&m=A1MZR6Q04D6ONF

My hair clarifier: Shampoo to Remove Build-Up
http://www.amazon.com/JustNatural-O...F41A/ref=aag_m_pw_dp?ie=UTF8&m=A1MZR6Q04D6ONF

My Vinegar Rinse: Vinegar Rinse Cleanser

http://www.amazon.com/Vinegar-Rinse...K9NG/ref=aag_m_pw_dp?ie=UTF8&m=A1MZR6Q04D6ONF

Shit is expensive tho, but just what I personally recommend as a base suggestion.

 

[NCARCERATED_SCARFACE]

As black women we age gracefully already but for prevention and to simply maintain nice, healthy skin here are a few simple suggestions:

1. Mash a banana until it has a creamy texture and apply it to your entire face for 30 minutes, bananas have so much more going for them than just a delicious and nutritious treat.

2. Coconut oil is the best option when it comes to natural wrinkle removal, since it rebuilds our skin tissue and will also leave your face skin moisturized and feeling smooth and beautiful.

3. Pineapple juice can easily rival any treatment, in fact it is much better, because they are packed with the enzyme bromelain which naturally eats away our top layer of skin when applied topically and leaves the new fresh skin underneath.

Just Beautiful

 

[Aquafina..floe]

i just wash my face with soap and water always have and rarely use makeup i found this has always kept my skin clear and healthy

the only problem i seem to have is oil control im afraid to put anything on my skin but soap though

 

[MsSouthern]

Coconut Oil and Honey Hair Mask

Ingredients:

1/4 cup coconut oil

1 teaspoon honey

Plastic squeeze bottle

shower cap or plastic grocery bag

Instructions:

In a small microwave safe bowl, combine coconut oil and honey. Microwave for 30-45 seconds, until coconut oil is liquid and mixture is warm. Stir together until well incorporated (there will still be some separation between the honey and oil). If desired, pour coconut oil mixture into a plastic squeeze bottle.

Over a sink, massage oil mixture into hair, starting at the ends and working up towards the scalp. After hair is evenly coated, wrap hair on top of your head and secure with a clip or hair tie, then cover with shower cap or plastic grocery bag. Let the mask sit on your hair for 10-15 minutes.

Thoroughly rinse out oil and shampoo as usual, taking extra care to wash out all remaining oil.

 

Simple Avocado Hair Mask

1 extra ripe avocado

3 eggs

1/2 melted coconut oil (or olive oil)

1/2 water

Leave for 30 min, rinse thoroughly, condition as usual

 

[9TRAY]

^^ Concious_Nkechi I need somethin' to put on my Negro Naps so I can maintain my Waves on Swim , what do you recommend Bronx Lady?

 

[MistyKnight]

OK, so let me ask the ladies...my daughter is 9.Her mom is not so much into the natural products as much as she used to be and keeps getting her hair pressed (not permed per se, but still). If not that, then it's always in braids. The argument is 'well, you're not gonna take care of her hair so I have to do what's easy for me.' Girl has serious back to Africa hair--like, get her hair pressed, run in the sprinkler for 10 minutes and it's a waste of $30.

So my question is this: what products can/would you recommend that will keep her hair soft and *manageable* and easy to maintain but still naturally curly for a semi-single dad who would prefer for his child to let her hair breathe?

Well, the brazillian keratin treatment isn't an all natural product but I think it's a better alternative than a perm because you don't lose your curly texture & it makes hair more manageable.

I had that kunta kinte rough african hair too but after only one single use of the BKT, 6 months later my hair is AH-Mazing!

WARNING: There are different kinds of BKT treatments & some contain dangerous chemicals so do your research.

Nonetheless, I was able to do it by my self with no issues & my hair went from being a 4b/4c with sprinkles of 4a to having a head full of manageable 4a/3c hair. I don't plan to use the BKT again because I don't feel like I need to as my hair is exactly the way I want it. I do "heat train" my hair every couple of months to maintain the texture... but that's another story lol

 

[9TRAY]

^^

Pics of your hair after you had that Kunta Kinte rough african hair @Khaleesi

 

[MzKB]

@sixsicksins

Does Shea Moisture still sell Yucca & Baobab Thickening Shampoo? I haven't seen that at all.

 

[MistyKnight]

Besides the fact that i'm a lazy fatty lol, I decided that i'm gonna do a no-heat, twist-out only challenge until my daughter is born. Meaning that I will only have my hair in a twist-out style until May & I will be locking away my hair dryer & straightener until then.

So far so good. I've gone 2 weeks so far & I honestly love it. It's so easy & more manageable than straightening my hair every 2 weeks. Instead of the usual wash, dry, & straighten which would take me 2 hours... I now just wash, twist, air dry, & call it a day taking 45 minutes tops.

I've observed that my hair is a bit dryer than it was when I used to straighten bi-weekly... & using oils makes my hair feel clumpy & nasty within a few days. Not sure what to do about this.

Products I use: Cantu shea butter, hawaiian silk spray, Jamaican castor oil, some other oil that I can't remember right now, creme of nature leave in conditioner, creme of nature shampoo, suave keratin conditioner, & Avanti silicon mix for my deep conditioning treatments.

Ofcourse I don't use all at once, my staple products that I use throughout the week are the shea butter, creme of nature leave-in.

 

[MoneyPowerRespect]

Lately I've been using the shea moisture curl smoothie and I love it. My avi is my hair in a 3strand twist out. Which is my new go to style for the winter. I only use coconut oil but I'm going to spray that olive oil/coconut oil mixture on my scalp to see what that does. Eventually I'm going to learn how to flat twist my hair..

 

[geechee slim]

Blue magic hair grease

Coco butter lotion

Toothpaste

 

[BlackCat]

[quote="Khaleesi;6654612"

I've observed that my hair is a bit dryer than it was when I used to straighten bi-weekly... & using oils makes my hair feel clumpy & nasty within a few days. Not sure what to do about this.

Products I use: Cantu shea butter, hawaiian silk spray, Jamaican castor oil, some other oil that I can't remember right now, creme of nature leave in conditioner, creme of nature shampoo, suave keratin conditioner, & Avanti silicon mix for my deep conditioning treatments.

Ofcourse I don't use all at once, my staple products that I use throughout the week are the shea butter, creme of nature leave-in.[/quote]

My hair is natural but I blow dry it and straighten it when I'm busy with school and work so I can only wash it once every week as opposed to washing it every other day when I leave it curly. I've noticed it started to get dry when I wash it often now that it summer, so I started putting EVOO for one hour prior to shampooing. I've also switched to Redken moisturizing shampoo and conditioners. It's a bit pricy but try to stack on the jumbo sizes when they put them on sale. It's well worth it and lasts long. Trust me I wash my hair two to three times a week unless it's straight. If you put oil, try to put it only on your scalp using a qtip over night and put a little drop on your palms and rub it around your hair. It will be nicely soft and moisturized in the morning with no clump or grease. I usually use the EVOO I cook with.

 

[BlackCat]

^^^ sorry I messed up the quote which is why I alway stick to lurking smh

 

[OmegaConflict]

^^^ sorry I messed up the quote which is why I alway stick to lurking smh

 

[AlbertBeats]

Aqua Zest